Vending machine



May 27, 1924. '1,495,217

D. M. ALEXANDER y VENDING MACHINEA F1 1ed-March 16 1.922 s sheets-sheet 1 May 2,7 1924.

D. M. ALEXANDER I VENDING MACHINE 3 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16 1922 u May 27, 1924;

D. M. ALEXANDER VENDING MACHINE Filed March 16 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 27, 1924.

DONALD 1v1. ALEXANDER, oF CLEVELAND, .Jonio vENDINe MACHNE.

Appiio'ation mea Maron '16, 1922. 'serial No. '-544,14'5.

TQ allwhom t 'may concern: v

Be it known that I, 'DoNALn M. ALEX'- ANDnn, a citizen o f-theUnited States, residing at Cleveland, in the 'county of Cuyahoga and Sta-te of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in a 'Vending Machine, 'of which the 'fll'owing is a` full, clear, and eXactdescription, reference being had to the aceompanying drawings. y

This Yinvention -is Iconcerned with vending machines and is more particularly directed to the construction 'of a novel 'vending mech'- a'nism for dispensing pa'ok'ages lof merchandise, such .as towels, etc., 'operable only upon the insertion of coin of proper denomination.

The general object 'of my invention is the provision of a simple, durable, efficient package vending machine wherein 'means for selecting and dispensing one Vpaol'age a time is provided, and which may be economically` manufactured and easily assembled while having no delicate parts likely to get out of order. A more specific object of my invention is the provision of a loeking device that may be released by a slight pielirninary v movement of the coin when lcarried by ,thev dispensing means, which movement, if prolonged, will also ,effect the dispensing of one of the articles being vended by the machine. A further object -of the present invention is the provision of a vlocking mechanism which may be associated with a dispensing mechanism in such a manner that any nndue manual exertion upon an exteriorly disposed vending lever will be taken yup the locking mechanism without exerting any harmful stresses on .the various members comprising the dispensing mechanism.

Other objects will be hereinafter 'set forth in the following description of the accomL panying drawings whi'eli illiistiate a preferred .embodiment of 4my invention. The

essential characteristics will be suni'inaried in the claims. v

yIn the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine.: Fig., 2v is a cross sectional. elevation taken thoileh the .lower port-ion of the machine showing the dis 50 pensing 'and vlooking me'chanisms'in4 a normal inoperative position; '3 lisa l'side elevationjwifth the casing Ain cios's section to 'show the'loclingmechanism; Fig. 4C is a fragmentar'y'cross 'sectional l view of the `locking 55 meehanisfm; Fig. 5 is a view. similar to-Fig, 3 afterthe coin has-eifeeted the release of the locking mechanism; Fig." '6 -is a .cross sectional view Z'similar to Fig. 2 with the l'di'spen'si'ng 'mechanism however, shifted `forwardly to 'the 'package dispensing position; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the vending mechanisin inthe position v`shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is 4"a"fr'agnient-ary cross `sectional view vof tlie dispensing 'slide when positioned lto receive a coing' `Fig. l9 is a-'cross section taken substantially along Ilthe fline `9`9 of Fig; 7. Fig. 10-i s a fragmentary view ofthe dispensing mechanism; Fig. 11' is a side elevational Islecti'onl taken throngh the coin pas- 70 sageway.

'Referring to the various elements 'of my machine by the use of reference characters,

I have lshown in Fig. `1i an outer metallic casing 12, having a suitable display window 75 13 form'ofdjinthe front wallfthref for displaying `the mercantileecontents of a magazine or loading chamber, while in the lower enlarged Aportion thereof a suitable vending opening 14 is formed. manually operable 80 lever 1o may be disposed on the llimer right hand 'sido of thefmaohhosand vis the only movable member disposed onvthe outside of the casing. Al'coin "receiving opening "16 is shown adjacent the lower right edgeof the 85 easing;l Any s suitable means vlnay 'be se-V cured to the inner facef'tfhe front wall forpermneiitly maintaining the glass '18 in plaee. i

/A -reinovable'top panel l1i serves 'to close 90 the Ycasing and may be seenre'd thereto ltohngrn'ean's 'positioned interiotly ofthe easing; The laterhin'g ineansriiay be of any soi-table construction controlled fby a key to' permit ready removal. fof l:the top panel 95 when it is desired to reload Vthey nachiin'e". inner ,guide wifi? serves to support the packages 1in properly staokedrolation while at the same time facilitating the guiding of the packages to a transversely movable dispensing carriage 20. The wall 17 is inclined forwardly toward a vertical guide wall 18 and has a downwardly extending portion 17a parallel with the latter wall which is spaced a sufficient distance therefrom to permit the easy passage of round packages, as illustrated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 2 and Fig. 6.

The casing is secured to a frame member 22 which comprises an integral body upon which the various movable dispensing members are mounted. The member 22 may be formed of pressed metal but for the purpose of obtaining a rigid support for the`coin control and dispensing mechanisms 'I prefer the frame memberto be an aluminum casting having ain upper ribbedV wall 23 which slopes downwardly to the bottom of the dispensing opening 14. This ribbed wall likewise serves to partition the bottom portion of the casing, thus forming av coin chamber 24'which may bev closed by any suitable means, such as a metallic door member 25 secured in place by a lock member 26 mounted thereon. y

yThe dispensing mechanism is comprised of a minimum number of parts, the important one of which is the 'slide member 20 also preferably formed of aluminum. This member is arranged to slide transversely ofthe Vstack of packages or rolls as illustrated in Fig. 6, and is formed in such a manner as to have a vertical wall forming a recess or opening 21 extending therethrough which is of'sufhcient size to receive one of the rollsfR. This member is mounted on roller members 27 secured to the opposite ends thereof which are arranged to roll in and traverse elongated openings 28 formed in side supporting plate members 29.-

The plate members 29 may be secured to the side walls 22a of the member 22 by any suitable means such as screwv members 30. Spaced members. 31' and 32 may be secured to the upper ends of the plate members 29 by'screw members v33, thereby maintaining the parallelism of the opposite faces of the plate members 29. The plates 29 are of sullicient height to permit the positioning of the spacing post 32 therebetween in the manner described while affording sufficient clearance for the transverse movement of the dispensing slide 20.

The dispensing slide may bef actuated b-y upwardly eXtending levers 34 which. are mounted on a square rocker shaft 35 eX- tending through andvv supported by bearings mounted in the side walls 22a of the member 22. The flanged bushing members 36, which serve as bearings, may be held in proper 'relation to the side walls 22a by any suitable means such as Cotter pins 37. The

manually operable lever 15 hereinbefore referred to is mounted on an outwardly projecting portion 35a of the square shaft a sufficient distance away from one of the levers 34 also mounted on the shaft, to provide space for the easy placing of the casing upon the base member 22.

The levers 34 are disposed intermediate of the casing walls and the frame member 22 and are connected to the dispensing member 20 by stud members 38 which also serve as a mounting for the rollers 39, the stud members 38 being rigid with the dispensing member and arranged to engage the lever members 34 in an elongated slot 34a. Hence a forward movement ofthe lever 15 will effect a forward dispensing movement of the member 20. The dispensing member 20 may be returned to a normally inward position by a spring member 40 whichis disposed within' the coin receiving chamber 24 and engages a pin member 41 secured to the shaft member 35.

The coin control mechanism mayrcomprise-a lever member 42 pivotally mounted adjacent 'the upper rear end of the side plate member 29 and a -stud member 43. The forward portion of the member 42 may have a notch vshaped end 42a which is disposed above and arranged to engagea projecting portion 34a formed on the upper end of one of the levers 34. Any means, suchv as spring member 44 may be used to maintain the lever 42 in anormally downward locking position.

Intermediate the ends of the locking lever 42 and disposed adjacent vthe path of the coin, I have mounted a roller member 45 thereupon which will be engaged by the coin to disengage the lever member 42 from the lever member 34, thus permitting complete dispensing movement vof the member 2() as will presently be4 described.

The coin control mechanism may include a coin chute 47 extendingA from the vertical opening 16 inwardly and then downwardly to a position above and in alignment with a group of coin arresting pins 48, 49 and 50, the pin members 48 and 49 being rigidly secured to the end wall of the dispensing slide member 20. The position of the pins 48, 49 and 50 is such as to arrest the falling coin in the position indicated at Cin Fig.

' 11. When so held, the upper edge of the coin will travel in a transverse path which is higher than the lower surface of the roller 45, during the period the coin is carried toward the front of the machine by movement of thel dispensing slide 20. and will engage and lift the roller 45 and locking lever 42.

The presence -of a coiuof itself does not unlock the machine. When inthe position described, on the forward movement of the dispensing slide, it raises the locking lever Lees-,12.1.7

42, permitting the complet-e .movement of the dispensing mechanism. lTo prevent the surreptitious operation Iof the machine, that is, by the use Iof fo-rce without the :insertion of a coin, the locking lever 42 engages the upper end of the lever 34 bythe shoulders 42a and 34UL as described.v The position of the locking shoulder 42d is such as to permit a preliminary movement, which, ifv the coin is present, causes the unlocking, and in the absence of the coin it will prevent further movement of the lever 34. It is to be noted that the attachment of the locking devices is such that even though great force is used upon the exterior operating lever, this force is taken .up directly through the substantial members shown by the direct engagement of the locking .Shoulders on .levers '.34 and ,42, and b v the frame of the' machine through the pivot 43. 'y

To permit the passage of .the coin to the coin chamber 24, it is important that one r of the pins 48, 49 or 50 be ,movable'relative to the others at a certain predetermined point in the-transverse vmovement of the dispensing member and I accordingly pre- *fer* to secure .the pin member 5() to; the upper end of a. small -levermember 51v which` isv mounted on the inner face of the end wall of the dispensing slide 20. This pin may be of sufiicient -length ,to extend through the thicknessl of the wall and transversely of the slot '54 formed in :the plate member 29. This slot is of sutlicient length to permit an uninterrupted movement -of the pin' member 50 which is slightly lless than the full movement of the dispensing slide 20. The pin 50 and lever 51 may ,be maintained in a normal coin arresting posjition such as is illustrated in Figs. v2,3, 5 and 8 by a small spring member 53.' At the eXtreme outer dispensing 'position however, the pin member 50 will strike the end of the slot and cause a shifting ofthe ,pin about the supporting pivot of the lever 51, thereby permitting the coin to drop downwardly through a suitable opening 22C formed in the end wall 22@ ofthe base member 22.; This chute terminates in an opening 5,5 which comprises a communication between the chute and the coin chamber 24. y

The operation of the machine is as follows: A coin is inserted in theexterioriopening 16 from whence it rolls .by gravity through the guide tube 47 and drops downwardly until arrested by the pins 48, 4 9 and 50. The ypurchaser .then draws forwardly on the lever 15,-thus causing a rocking of the shaft 35 andconsequently a swing of the'levers 3,4. The forward'vmovement of the slide also carries the coin C forwardly and the upper edge of the coin acts upon the roller 45. thusraising the'f-locking leger 4.2 out of the arcuate Path ef the" 11p-rer enld 3,41 of the ilever34. rIhe swinging of the .levers f3.4 imparts ,a transverse lmovement to the dispensing slide 20, and package, (in this instance a towel-roll), lis moved along 'the ribbed wall 23 until the slide is in the position substantially shown in Fig. 6,:whence the roll drops downwardly toward the vending opening 14 and is arrested by a 'stop rail The package may then be removed from the machine.

Vhen the lever 15 is released the 'spring member 340 imparts a reverse motion to the shaftv 35 and levers 34, thus effecting the return movement of the slide .20. During the forward movement ofthe slide member camming ribs 20d formed on the upper surface of the dispensing slide engage ,the vbottom roll in :the supply chamber and causes it to raise slightly, thus agitating all of tlf rolls in the "supply chamber, and as the slide 2 0 returns to its normal inward position the roll thus lacted upon will dro-pinto the' opening of the slide and .rest upon ,the upper portion 'of the ribbed wall/2,3, as illustra-tedin Fig. `2. Upon the return swing of `the upper 'end of the lever 3 4 the `locking lever 42 'is cammed upwardly 'and drops again under the :force 'of the .spring after the levers 34 are v4returned to their normal inward po'- sition.

From Fig. 2 it is .apparent that communication'between the supply chamber and the Adispensing opening '14 will be closed by the front wall .2Oc lof the' dispensing slide when theslide is boa-ck, thus 'preventingthe insertion ofthe hand or other `tampering with V'the contents o'f'the machine.

To insure the proper feeding of the packages from the magazine to they dispensing slide, and to prevent a'congesting of the packages' at the bottom of `the magazine, I have provided additional mechanism for agitating the packages 'each time the dispensing slide is shifted through a dispensing movement. This mechanism may comprise a pair of pivotally mounted lifting lingers '55 integrally formed Yfrom flat metal with a connecting bridge portion 56 extending therebetween.

Thelingers maybe supported on the spacing rod 31, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, and are maintained in proper position relative to the. magazine Abycontact with the walls of slots formed in the inclinedv Vbottom member 17 of thevmagazine. The fingers are swung upward-ly and downwardly by a link member 57 which is pivotally mounted en the upper rear end vof the slide member v2O, vat 5.8 as indicated in Fig. 7.

The connecting 57 'moves the'ngers by acting on a rod member 59. which isconnected .to the Vfingers in .such a. manner that a swinging movement of the link maytake peca Witheet. @rf-@sees .a erwiesen? .0f the lingers, the rod passing through a slot vformed in the link to permit this swinging 'the angular position illustrated in Fig. 6,

whence a further rearward swinging of the link is prevented by a stop shoulder 2Ot formed on the rear of the slide. As the link comes to rest on the shoulder a camming action is obtained on the finger rod 59, causing the rod 59 to swing about the rod 3l and to travel along the slot of the link, thus swinging the fingers to the position illustrated in Fig. 6.

The ends of the lingers contact with the package in the magazine which is rest-ing over the wall slots through which the lingers pass, and the weight of the packages is relieved from the lowermost one, whence that one is free to drop into the receiving opening or recess of the slide when the slide is again shifted to rearward position.

The purchaser frequently inserts several coins before operating the machine. 'Io insure the proper operation thereof in such a case I have provided a rail portion 20g on the end of the slide which will pass under the coin chute and maintain the `additional coins in the chute when the first coin is carried forwardlyby the pins on the'slide. y

I have also provided means to arrest a backward or a 'forward ymovement of the slide before full operative movement thereof has been completed which may comprise a pawl member 60, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6 which is arranged to swing freely on a pivot pin 61, secured to the side plate member 29. A spring member 62 maintains the pawl in a normal vertical position.

A rack plate 68 may be secured to the end wall of the slidein such a manner as to swing the pawl to a substantially 45 position from its normal vertical position, and the end of the pawl clicks 'over the rack teeth 651L when the slide is moved. As long as the pawll is in this 45 position, a premature return movement of the slide is prevented until the forwardmovement has been completed, upon which the pawl will be swung free of the rack under the influence of spring member 62. rI`he reverse movement of the slide will cause the rack to displace the pawl to a 45 position in the opposite direction and the pawl will again function in the manner described, until the' return movement of the slide has been completed. From the foregoing description of my invention it is to be seen that I have provided a compact, durable dispensing machine wherein a complete movement of the dispensing mechanism is prevented unless a coin of the proper denomination is first inserted in the machine. Furthermore, I have arranged thecoin control mechanism of the device in such a manner that if the proper coin is notV inserted in the device, any foro` ing or tampering with the lever 15 will not strain or impair the elements of t-he vending mechanism.

IIaving thus described my invention what I claim is rl. In a device of the character described, the combination of a supply chamber adaptable for the reception and 'storage of uniformly shaped packages, dispensing means for selecting one of the packages including a' transversely movable slide disposed beneath` said chamber, means carried lby said dispensing means and relatively movable thereto for receiving and supporting a coin during a transverse movement thereof, and locking means responsive to the movement of said coin for releasing said dispensing means during the iirst stage ofthe movement of said dispensing means,-said coin supporting means being actuatedto yrelease the coin during the last stage ofy the 'movement of the dispensing slidef 2. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination of a supply chamber, a transversely movable slide disposed therebeneath, means movable with the slide and relatively movable thereto for receiving and carrying the coin, a coin controlled locklforarresting the movement of said dispensing means including a locking lever the releasing movement of which is eifected by the movement of the coin carried by said transverselyl movable slide, said coin being released by actuation of the coin carrying means during the last vstage of the dispensing movement of the slide. l

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a dispensing Vslide having an opening therein adapted to receive the package to be dispensed, a package magazine disposed above the slide, a rocker shaft, a manually operable lever for imparting movement thereto, a lever member operated by said shaft and adapted to move said slide, coin arresting means carried by the dispensing slide, means for locking the slide against movement in the absence of a coin and means vcarried by the'slide for releasing said coin upon a transverse movement of said dispensing means.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a supply magazine, dispensing means comprising a slide .movable transversely of said magazine, said slide means carried by said slide and relatively` movable thereto for holding said coin during a transverse movement of the slide when vending a package, said coin holding means being actuated Vsubstantially at thefend of the movement of the slide.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a supply magazine, dispensing means comprising a slide movable' transversely of said magazine, said slide having a cavity corresponding to the size of the package being dispensed and normally in registration with an opening in the bottom of said magazine, locking means responsive to the movement of a coin, and means carried by said slide for holding said coin during a transverse movement of the slide, including a pin member mounted on a lever carried by the slide adapted to carry the pin out of engagement with the coin at a predetermined position when said slide is shifted from said magazine opening.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a supply magazine, a transversely movable dispensing slide disposed therebeneath, said slide having a package receiving cavity normally in registration with a package outlet formed in the bottom of the magazine, a casing therefor, a downwardly extending coin chute, means carried by said slide for arresting the coin after it has traversed the chute, means for manually operating said slide including an eXteriorly disposed manually operable lever and interiorly disposed levers, a rocker shaft upon which said levers are mounted, and locking means responsive to the transverse movement of the coin when carried by said slide, said locking means being arranged to act directly on said levers in the absence of said coin whereby movement of the levers is prevented.

7 In a machine of the character described, the combination of a supply magazine, a transversely movable dispensing slide disposed therebeneath, said slide having a package receiving cavity normally in registration with a package outlet formed in the bottom of the magazine, a downwardly eX- tending coin chute, means carried by sai-d slide for receiving the coin after it has traversed the chute including a lever pivotally mounted on the slide and relatively movable thereto, means for manually operating said slide including a lever, hlocking means responsive to the transverse movement of the coin when carried by said slide, said locking means being arranged to arrest the movement of said lever in the absence of said coin.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of a magazine for the storage of packages to be vended and having an inclined bottom frame member adapted to guide the packages singly to an opening formed in the bottom thereof, a transversely movable dispensing slide, a rocker shaft, le-

vers mounted thereon and adapted to move said slide, a body member constituting a support for said slide', aA locking lever adapted to prevent a complete movement of said levers, said locking lever being mountedl on a' pivot iny rigid relation with saidframe member, whereby any undue strain exerted' upon said lever when locked will be taken up by said body member.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination o-f a package magazine having an opening in the bottom thereof through which one of the packages may pass, a transversely movable dispensing slide adapted to receive said package upon passing through said openingand shift it to a vending opening in the machine, a coin chute terminating adjacent one end of said slide, pins carried by the slide adapted to arrest the downward movement of the coin upon leaving said chute, a rocker shaft, levers mounted thereon adapted to impart said transverse movement to the slide, a locking lever adapted to normally prevent movement of said rocker levers but responsive to the movement of the coin when carried on said pins during the first portion of the movement of said slide, and means for shifting one of said pins relative to the others to permit the release of said coin after said locking lever has been shifted out of the path of said rocker lever.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of a slide-supporting frame, a dispensing slide, a manually operable lever for imparting movementv thereto, coin arresting means carried by said dispensing slide, a second lever pivoted on said frame and locking said first named lever and responsive to a transverse movement of the coin when carried by sa-id coin arresting means.

11. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination of a supply chamber having a discharge opening, a slide-supporting member', a slide movable transverse of said opening and adapted to receive an article from the chamber and discharge the same, a coin -controlled locking lever pivotally mounted on the slide supporting member, a second lever adapted to move said slide upon a manual operation of the machine, and coin arresting means movable upon the operation of said last named lever and adapted to carry the coin into operative association with said locking lever, whereby the locking lever is displaced to permit complete movement of said slide.

l2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a dispensing slide, a manually operable lever for imparting movement thereto, coin arresting 'means movable upon the movement of the slide, and a second lever arranged to interrupt a complete movement of said manually operable lever and responsive to a preliminary movement of said coin arresting means by said manually operated lever.

13. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination of a supply chamber, a slide movable transversely of said opening and recessed to receive a package passing from the opening, a coin controlled looking lever, a second lever for moving the slide, and coin Carrying means movable upon the operation of said last named lever a'nd adapted torelease the coin after the coin has acted upon said locking lever.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature. 4 y

DONALD M. ALEXANDER. 

